February 14, 2014

On an average day, any C-SPAN viewer would know how senators voted in real time because votes are read aloud. (See our post on the six senators who appear to have changed their votes.)

But on Wednesday, the clerks did not name names. Instead of announcing the rolling vote tally as the vote went along on the critical motion to limit debate on the debt limit measure, senators were allowed to cast their votes in relative secrecy. Overlooked at the time, it has since caught the attention of numerous reporters.

After organizations representing journalists complained and a few hours after this story was published, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s spokesman Adam Jentleson gave CQ Roll Call a statement explaining the switch.

“After the vote began, it was quickly clear that Republican leaders were struggling to deliver enough votes to clear the 60-vote hurdle upon which they had insisted instead of a simple majority, and a potentially catastrophic default suddenly seemed possible. At Senate Republicans’ request, the clerk did not call the names during the vote to make it easier for Republican leaders to convince their members to switch their votes,” he said.

Jentleson said the request ”is consistent with Senate rules.”

“Senator Reid believed that protecting the full faith and credit of the United States and avoiding a default that could have disastrous consequences for anyone with a bank account were the most important objectives. For this reason and as a courtesy to his Republican colleagues, he consented to Republicans’ request,” Jentleson continued.

And, because making the trains run on time is so important, I suppose we might as well bag this democracy thing baby.

You know, the only 'check' against this behavior is elections. There should be a universal rule: secret vote means you don't get reelected, period. Even if you're Ted Cruz or whatever. But that requires that people 'get' democracy, which they don't. Altogether this sort of monetary power shouldn't be possessed by Congress period. Barely half the founders even ever thought it should.

Slowly but surely the GOP will be renovated into a conservative and libertarian organization. It will take time and there will be bitter internal struggles.

But please, please, we need to keep those struggle buried as much as possible."

Please let Charlie Crist, Lisa Murkowski, Mike Castle, Lincoln Chafee and other establishment Republicans in on the plan. The Establishment is full of Mike Bloombergs and Arlen Specters who won't take FU for an answer.

That, and because of the monkey wrench Ted Cruz threw into their plan. Else they'd never have had to make the request to turn the mics off in first place. The thing would have passed with 51 votes and all those "staunch fiscal conservative" Republicritters getting to vote "no".

I do not have a haavaad PhD in economics but not increasing the debt limit does not mean default. It means belt tightening and setting priorities. In fact increasing the debt limit AND USING IT drives us closer to default every day.

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